Security App Maker Lookout Gets Funding Boost

Lookout, maker of a popular mobile security app, has received $55 million in funding from a group of investors that include Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, the venture capital arm of Qualcomm and several venture capital firms.

The single investment nearly matches the $75 million the company had received in funding since its 2007 founding. The security app maker says it will use the money to bolster its international presence and push into the enterprise market.

“This is a pretty significant event for us,” said John Hering, Lookout’s 30-year-old chief executive and co-founder.

Mobile security threats are growing as more people use smart phones to store sensitive information. “The mobile device has become the most personal computer,” Hering said. Yet most consumers don’t pay for security programs on their mobile devices. A report by security company Symantec Corp. found that the number of mobile vulnerabilities more than doubled between 2010 and 2012.

Lookout hopes to solve that problem. The company says it protects 45 million people with its software, which is available as an app on Android and Apple phones and tablets. The company estimates 6.5% of apps in the Google Play store contain adware, which the company’s app is able to identify and remove. A basic version of the app is free and the premium version is $3 per month.

Greylock Partners and Mithril Capital Management, a fund backed by Peter Thiel, are also contributing to the investment. Current investors Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, and Khosla Ventures also gave funding.

Lookout, based in San Francisco, will expand its office in London and open another in Japan. It also plans to explore security technologies with that could move beyond apps and into chips, Hering said.

“We have a whole new set of technologies we’ll be developing with our strategic partners,” Hering said.